You Weren't Picked?

By GEORGE JAMES

Published: June 5, 2005

THERE is a hall of fame for sports figures. And a hall of fame for aviators and drum corps bands. There is even one for pets. And soon, New Jersey may have a hall of fame for everyone else.

Last month the state Senate approved a measure that would create a hall of fame ''to promote,'' as one leading sponsor, Senator Joseph M. Kyrillos Jr. of Monmouth County, put it, ''the accomplishments of other individuals from New Jersey who have excelled in areas such as business, the arts, science, and entertainment.''

A companion bill is awaiting action in the Assembly, and Mr. Kyrillos does not see a problem passing it.

''I think the chances are very good,'' he said. ''New Jersey needs a vehicle to trumpet its success and successful people.''

And, he added, ''This has been an awkward time for New Jersey.''

By that he seemed to mean that New Jersey -- historically the butt of jokes on late-night television -- shifted into high gear over the past several years because of the level of corruption investigations and Gov. James E. McGreevey's unusual exit.

Although he did not elaborate, there have been a disproportionate number of headlines about payoffs by contractors and political bosses talking and acting like Tony Soprano to get ''their guys'' into jobs.

''Despite all that, we have a fairly successful society, and it's a significant and important state,'' Mr. Kyrillos said. ''I think there will be a pride that people will draw from seeing the type of people we can put the spotlight on.''

If the measure passes, New Jersey would join only a handful of states that honor their native -- and adopted -- sons and daughters. Most states have specialized halls of fame that honor people in various fields -- from entertainers and sports figures to propane marketers in North Dakota.

Indeed, Colorado has the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame and the Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame. Nevada has the a Buckaroo Hall of Fame, and Texas the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame as well as the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum

Of course, New York is home to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown and the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs. In Newport, R.I., there is the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and Indiana has a state basketball hall of fame. Ohio not only has two national halls of fame -- for pro football in Canton and rock 'n' roll in Cleveland -- but a state hall of fame for trapshooting.

North Carolina honors its literary figures, Vermont its skiers and Wyoming its late dinosaurs.

West Virginia not only has the National Darts Hall of Fame but also a state Coal Hall of Fame. Hawaii is home to the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame (where else could it have been?) And Wisconsin is home to the International Clown Hall of Fame (government officials not allowed).

Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina and South Dakota as well as Pennsylvania are among those that draw their inductees from the general population. Some of these appear to be state run, others by nonprofit corporations and some just as Web sites.

And in Nebraska, a person has to be dead for 35 years before being considered. Willa Cather, Buffalo Bill Cody, William Jennings Bryan and Red Cloud make the cut.

This raised the question of the criteria for New Jerseyans, such as, how does Eddie Murphy compare with Thomas Edison?

''I'm not sure anyone in the state Senate deserves to be there,'' Senator Kyrillos said with a laugh.

Under the terms of the bill, the governor and the Legislature would appoint a 17-member commission to set criteria and choose inductees and a foundation to raise funds for what would essentially be a nonprofit corporation. The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which operates the New Jersey Sports Hall of Fame at the sports complex in the Meadowlands, would manage details of the project until the commission was in place.

The Sports Hall of Fame, which dates to 1993, is basically a collection of more than 100 plaques that line the cinderblock walls of the box office in Continental Airlines Arena.

About 35 plaques -- separated by an advertisement for Hebrew National Beef Franks -- line one section of wall. Almost 70 others line the walls of a hallway that the public does not even have access to because it leads to private offices at the arena.

Jim DeBosh, a spokesman for the sports authority, said it is hoped that the proposed hall of fame -- or perhaps more aptly put, the wall of fame -- would have a more integrated area like somewhere in Xanadu, the retail, entertainment, hotel and office complex featuring a chocolate waterfall and artificial ski slope that is going up in the Meadowlands.

As for cost, a $95,000 appropriation to organize the hall of fame was removed from the bill because, as Mr. Kyrillos put it, this is an awkward time to ask for money.

''We'll do it through the existing staff at the sports authority and private foundations,'' he said.

Yet Angus Kress Gillespie, a professor or American studies at Rutgers and director of the New Jersey Folk Festival, is not so sure this is a good idea.

''It seems to me that to have a successful hall of fame with a physical location, it's better to appeal to a special-interest group, something like the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown or the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that's in Cleveland,'' Dr. Gillespie said.

Mulling over the notion, he said: ''It seems to me that its hard to find the common denominator other than New Jersey residency for famous New Jerseyans. I mean, we have aviators, inventors and sports heroes and intellectuals. But it seems like it's a grab bag, a sort of 52 pickup.''

Photo: The Sports Hall of Fame at Continental Arena may expand into a state hall of fame. (Photo by Timothy Ivy for The New York Times)